Staying Silent
Whyteroze28
Why is Hector Zeroni so quiet, and why does Pendanski seem to hate him so much? Zero/Stanley I hope you like the story, please R/R
I obviously don't own these guys, but I think they're so cute together
Chapter 10
The next thing he remembered was waking up the next morning. He was sore from sleeping in one of the holes, but he knew it was better than what could have happened. He spent the next day wandering, pulling out that freezing rage whenever he got too hot, and by the time he saw the boat, he was shivering.
He saw the depression underneath, and checked to make sure there weren't any lizards around, before crawling under it. Then he saw the jars. Caked with years of dirt, and probably full of germs, he thought, but he didn't care. He tried to open one, but he couldn't so he broke it. The stuff tasted so good after almost a day of nothing to eat or drink that he emptied it quickly. He sighed when it was gone though, wishing he'd thought to ration it.
For the next few days he wandered in and out of dreams. He had the one he'd had after Stanley had gotten his nickname, and decided that the man had to be related to Stanley. And then the other one, with the black man, and blonde woman... Then his mind wandered back to that day when Mr. Sir had denied Stanley the water, and he heard his voice again. "Kissin' Kate Barlow."
He decided to name the stuff in the jars 'Sploosh', because of the funny gurgling feeling it gave him. He knew that it was a dumb name, but he really didn't care, after all, it wouldn't last forever.
Sometimes, in his worst delirium, he thought he was dreaming about the camp. He heard Pendanski's voice say, "No-one cares about Hector Zeroni." And then Stanley's soft, but steely reply. "I do."
He thought he heard Stanley calling for him once, but when he looked out, there wasn't anything there.
Then, late one morning, he heard it again, but softer. He didn't want to move, but he forced himself. He knew that the more he ignored it, the longer it would go on.
But when he looked outside, he thought he was still dreaming. Stanley was standing there, looking gorgeous as ever, and Hector wondered if he had finally died. Then he was being enveloped in the best hug he could remember, and he knew that he wasn't dead, but he still felt like he was in heaven.
At least until Stanley tried to get him to go back to camp. He adamantly refused, still unwilling to discuss why, and asked Stanley to try the Sploosh. He watched as Stanley's face lit up, and grinned at the reaction, feeling as though he was back inside one of his fever dreams. He couldn't stop smiling, even as he told Stanley that was his last jar. He felt other words bubbling up inside him, and they had almost broken free when Stanley voiced his opinion on going back to camp again. He felt the bubble pop, and his face fall, as he stated, "I'm not going back." Why couldn't he make Stanley understand.
But then he felt a small rush of happiness when he heard Stanley say, "You will die out here." It wasn't we, Stanley was totally focused on getting him back. Totally focused on his well-being. He listened to Stanley's half-cocked idea about telling the warden about the tube, but couldn't seem to focus his thoughts. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "What's Mare-ya-low?"
It seemed to stun the other boy for a second, and he stopped, angrily. Hector led him back outside, and Stanley saw the words on the side of the boat. They had puzzled Hector since he had first seen them. When Stanley corrected him, and started explaining that it said "Mary Lou," it almost felt like they were back in one of their sessions. Then he stopped, his words trailing off. He asked Hector what a mountain in the distance looked like, and Hector realized it looked like the thumbs-up sign. And he realized that Stanley had a plan.